The Hong Kong government has condemned the United States for extending an emergency status on the SAR, accusing Washington of "wantonly smearing the work" of safeguarding national security.

On Friday, a government spokesperson said the US had overridden the rule of law with politics and smeared the work of Hong Kong authorities in preventing, suppressing and imposing punishment for activities endangering national security "by despicable political manoeuvres".

"The US has blatantly and repeatedly breached the international law and the basic norms underpinning international relations, and vainly interfered with the internal affairs of the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong matters by extending again the so-called 'national emergency with respect to Hong Kong'. Such [an] act is arbitrary and unreasonable," the spokesperson said.

"The US has time and again made skewed remarks about Hong Kong's situation and imposed the so-called 'sanctions' on Hong Kong, attempting to interfere with Hong Kong's law-based governance and undermine the city's rule of law as well as its prosperity and stability. Their despicable plots are doomed to fail."

The spokesperson also accused the US, which has at least 21 pieces of laws safeguarding national security, of "double standards".

Washington pointed a finger at Hong Kong's legal system and enforcement mechanisms to safeguard national security, while totally disregarding the constitutional duty and practical needs of the SAR to legislate, as well as the positive effects brought by the security legislation on economic development and the protection of human rights, the spokesperson added.